Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various types of services such as voice, packet data, broadcast, and so on. These wireless networks include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks, etc.
Each wireless network utilizes a particular air interface to support over-the-air communication and typically further implements a particular mobile networking protocol that supports roaming and advanced services. For example, a CDMA network utilizes a CDMA air interface and an ANSI-41 networking protocol. The CDMA network may implement one or more CDMA standards such as IS-95, IS-856 (1x-EVDO), etc. The CDMA network may provide a broadcast service that broadcasts messages to users within the network. The broadcast messages may carry various types of information such as news, traffic reports, weather information, etc.
The telecommunication standards cited above are examples of some of the various communications systems that may be implemented to transmit voice and/or data. Within these systems, multiple users share limited system resources. One such limitation is the availability of channels to support multiple users. For example, in a CDMA-type system, each user within the range of a base station is assigned one or more channels to conduct communications with the base station. If there were not enough channels, then a new user that is entering the range of the base station may be blocked from accessing the services of that base station.
In certain situations, it is desirable to transmit the same data to several users. This is particularly desirable for applications that incur a large load on the wireless network, such as video streaming. However, cellular base stations are presently configured to transmit the data on separate channels to each user, regardless of the similarity of the data to each user. In other words, the base station makes multiple transmissions with the same data content. Thus, benefits may be realized by providing systems and methods for improving multicasting over a forward link.